This tea cake is laced with ginger wine and whisky for a beautifully moist, flavourful cake. It will keep for at least six months.
Ingredients
300g/10½oz raisins
150g/5½oz currants
150g/5½oz sultanas
200ml/7fl oz ginger ‘wine’ (preferably a non-alcoholic version, such as Glendale)
50ml/2fl oz whisky, plus extra for feeding the cake
200g/7oz butter, plus extra for greasing.
200g/7oz dark brown sugar
4 free-range eggs
50g/1¾oz ground almonds
200g/7oz plain flour
1 tbsp finely chopped stem ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground ginger
Method
Soak the raisins, currants and sultanas in the ginger wine and whisky in a bowl overnight, or preferably for two days.
Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm/8in cake tin with butter and greaseproof paper.
Beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.
Add an egg and the ground almonds and some of the flour, then alternate adding the remaining eggs and flour until all incorporated.
Stir in the soaked fruits and extra liquid along with the stem ginger mixed spice and ground ginger. Mix well.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately one hour 30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. (Check the cake after an hour – you may want to cover the tin with foil to prevent the cake from colouring too much.)
Once the cake has cooled, prick the cake all over with a skewer and feed the cake with a little whisky. The cake can be served immediately, but for an extra rich, moist cake repeat the feeding at least twice over a two-week period.
Wrap the cake in baking parchment or cling film and store in a dark dry place until, ready to serve. The cake will keep for at least six months.
Source: BBC FOODS
